Better Body After Baby

Legions of alpha moms are emerging from their post-pregnancy figure slimmer and trimmer than ever.

Who hasn't seen the pictures? The snaps of Miranda Kerr's infinite legs gliding through the airport with baby Flynn perched on one hip, J. Lo sleek and six-packed in a Lanvin bikini after the birth of her twins and Jessica Alba with her sinewy arms toting her daughters to the park: They're proof that women can come out of the postpartum fog as Mom 2.0, a leaner, faster, stronger version of their pre-pregnancy selves.

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Gwyneth Paltrow has built a small empire around her post-baby fitness and health regimen. Beyoncé, onstage in Atlantic City in a glittery, belly-baring crop top and mini, shouted to the crowd about how she had lost 60 pregnancy pounds in four months (lots of lettuce was involved). Model Arizona Muse has said that people started remembering her face and name only after she had her son three years ago.

"I think my body was better after I had a child, actually," Muse said in an interview. "I remember my mom saying that after you have a baby you get really thin. You're breast-feeding and you're busy and you're tired."

Okay, so maybe it's not as easy as Muse purports—and she and the others above weren't exactly giant to begin with—the pounds melting and cheekbones popping as mother and child sit blissfully bonding. (Jessica Simpson, don't fret: Most moms admit that it took a full year for them to feel normal again.) But with a little sleep and hard work, it's possible.

"It's all about schedule and discipline," says Julie Macklowe, a Manhattan social fixture and founder of the cosmetics company Vbeauté. "Kids have to be scheduled, so your life as a mom has to be better planned. Before kids, I had a laissez-faire approach to exercise. Now I have to commit. It's pretty typical for moms to go straight from drop off at preschool to SoulCycle."

Speaking of which, Elizabeth Cutler, a cofounder of the cult favorite SoulCycle indoor-cycling studio chain, is equally inspired by moms who come in and transform their bodies and lives every day. Her own struggle to lose 45 pounds of baby weight led to the opening of the first SoulCycle in 2006, and she estimates that about 1,000 of the more than 2,500 people who exercise in the studios daily are mothers.

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"What happens is that once you're a parent, you have to focus on your priorities," Cutler says. "You have to be able to deliver your best, stay healthy and strong for your kids. There's no question that as we age and have children, our bodies change. You have to find your core again, your strength after a baby. At first I struggled to hold a 10-pound baby."

Cutler encourages people to be open to different interpretations of what a "better body" is. "It doesn't have to be a skinnier body, just a healthy, stronger body," she explains. "Fitness is such a key part of my life, post-children, and I see that in so many of my friends. You want to get your body back, your strength, maintain your energy and those endorphins."

Actress Sarah Rafferty, the stunning redhead who plays Donna on the USA Network hit Suits, was three weeks postpartum when she was booked for the first photo shoot of the show's second season.

"I was literally sitting on a bag of ice when I got the call about the shoot," she says. Nine weeks after her second daughter was born, she was back on camera looking sleek. "I was smarter about food the second time," says Rafferty, who did Pilates, light weights, and cardio up until three weeks before her delivery. She got the okay to exercise two weeks after. "My doctor said, 'If your boobs can handle it, do it.' "

Sarah Easley, a co-owner of the SoHo boutique Kirna Zabête, says that for her, getting back into shape after having two kids wasn't just about "fitting into Givenchy. When I had my kids, I saw my body in a different way," she recalls. "I was like, 'You're amazing, body! You shot out this baby, and you're making milk.' I was proud of my accomplishment."

But then, when the demands of running a business and a family built up, she ran out of time for laborious 90-minute Bikram classes, plus strength training and more cardio. "I found this one workout, which I call 'recess,' because in my mind it's play. When I'm at this class, it makes me feel like I'm a 25-year-old backup dancer or in a nightclub dancing with my friends."

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Her trainer, Anna Kaiser of AKT InMotion, works with two of New York's ultimate hot mamas, Kelly Ripa and Sarah Jessica Parker, as well as many of the dancers on Broadway, leading them through dance-based strength workouts to keep their muscles lean and strong.

Tracy Anderson, who has become something of a guru for moms determined to shed every ounce of baby weight before their child learns to walk, has just released the nine-DVD Tracy Anderson's Pregnancy Project, an at-home fitness program that takes expecting moms through each phase of the process. Anderson says she began perfecting her dance-based workouts after her first child was born 14 years ago and she had 60 pounds to lose. Amy Adams, Christy Turlington Burns, and Susan Downey are just a handful of moms who've trained with Anderson before and after childbirth and have emerged longer and leaner as a result. Anderson credits her biggest champion and business partner, Paltrow, for offering women a peek behind the curtain, being honest about the work and commitment it takes to maintain her shape (which is up to two hours a day, six days a week).

"After baby especially, you have to wake up those small muscles and change your body," Anderson says while holding her newborn in her Malibu home. "I do think the shift in perspective happens when women see other women like Gwyneth and they hear her story, they know it's possible. She's honest with people. Gwyneth went out there and said, 'I couldn't get my body back after my second baby, but I found this and it works.' When people hear that it's possible, they want it."

The critical parts may not snap back to exactly the same place for moms even once the weight has been shed, but it's a small price to pay for what mothers truly gain out of the deal. The best advice seems to come from moms who have chosen not to obsess about the way they look and focus more on how they feel.

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Argentine model turned photographer, wife of polo star Nacho Figueras, and mother of three, Delfina Blaquier recommends a low-key approach to bouncing back: 1) Clean out your fridge, purging it of butter and cream, alcohol, and bread for a while. 2) Breast-feed. "The calories you burn, it's like running six miles a day." 3) Be patient. Taking care of yourself in the early days means you'll have more energy when the children are walking, when it really matters. "Now I eat when I'm hungry, but then I have energy to surf with my 12-year-old son or ride horses with my daughter," Blaquier says. "Then I find some time to work on my photographs. I can't sit still!"

If you find something you truly love and commit to, not a trend or a fad, it will work," says Easley, stressing that once she removed narcissism from the equation, her body never looked better. "It's not just about looking good. It's not just about you anymore. Your kids need you to be alive and healthy and youthful. It can't just be vanity."

From left to right: Jennifer Lopez with her daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba with daughter Honor

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